Fateful Fall
by Yamadori
Summary: Blue Dragon Anime. While traveling, the Shu-tachi are attacked by the enemy. In the resulting air fight, Jiro and Bouquet fall out of the mechat. Now, to find the others, they’ll have to try to work together... Jiro x Bouquet, possible Shu x Kluke
1. Chapter 1

**Wow, I finally managed to upload this! :D ... Okay, I know what many of you are probably thinking: "Yamadori, why are you putting up a new story instead of updating one of your other ones, like you should be doing?" The answer... Well... I'm stuck! *cries* I mean... I'm not sure about it, since I haven't started working on the next chapter yet, but I think that maybe I'm not stuck on **_**Blue Dragon Beyond**_**. I'll have to see when I start working on it. Anyway... This takes place around the time that **_**Troubles on White Day**_** did, except that those events never took place. I'm not really sure how long this would be... I had a new idea for this, so I might be able to stretch it out a little. I did forget some of the original ideas I had, though. Anyway... I think I've rambled enough, so after the disclaimer, we can get on with the story. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon. I probably never will, so don't stress about it.**

When he woke up, his head felt like it had been split open. He groaned, rolling onto his back. It seemed like a few bones might be broken. Just great.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was possibly at the bottom of a canyon. There were towering rock walls on both sides of him, the sky a thin blue ribbon in the distance.

He cursed his luck when he sat up, before grabbing his arm as he cried out in pain. Yes, something was definitely broken.

He thought about bringing out Minotauros, but there was no point if he was just going to use up all his energy and pass out. So, he looked around, trying to find another way...

That's when he saw her.

* * *

"Bouquet! Jiro!" Shu hung off the side of the mechat, trying to find them as Kluke finished another 360-spin.

Zola grabbed him by the shirt. "Shu, don't!"

"But-"

"There's nothing you can do for them right now. We have to come back later. Kluke," she turned. "Take evasive action!"

"Roger!" Kluke pushed forward, putting all of her willpower into getting them to safety.

* * *

Seeing her made him remember what had happened. He had been standing next to Shu when they were attacked, and then Kluke tried to pull off one of those crazy flight patterns...

As he fell out, he thought he'd been imagining it when he felt someone grab his wrist. And even if someone had, he didn't think it would be her.

Maybe it was the fact that she had pitifully tried to save him, but when he saw her, he started to worry about her. It was so stupid, since he couldn't stand her anyway, but she was just so... still.

He managed to make his way over to her, scraping his knee (a little unwittingly) in the process. When he was next to her, he started shaking her arm.

"Bouquet..." he whispered. She made no response; it might've been because it was a drafty canyon, but she felt a little cold. "Bouquet." his voice was louder now, more insistent this time. He didn't even realize that he'd started to hold his breath until she moved.

Bouquet wasn't really sure where she was. She tossed her head to the side and back again, before slowly opening her eyes. She was met with the sight of silver, blue and green. "Jiro...?"

"You're awake." was all he said. His face was a mask.

"Where are we?" she winced as she sat up; she felt like someone had stuck her in a blender.

"The canyon we were flying over, obviously." he closed his eyes. It wasn't that nice, but at least it was more normal.

Her voice changed like a deflated balloon. "I see... And where are the others?"

His mind tricked him into feeling guilt. It _was_ a trick, right? "Probably up in the mechat, still under attack."

"But... they'll come and find us, won't they?" Now there was fear creeping into her voice.

"If they were smart, they would leave us," Jiro ignored her incredulous look. "If the enemy is attacking them as furiously as before, then they don't have time to waste looking for us. No matter how injured we are, we're still Shadow Users; we won't die right away."

Somehow, this seemed to strangely comfort her. "So, what do we do now?"

"We can't stay here. The enemy might find us, especially if they know we fell out of the ship."

"But where will we go?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Somewhere they can't find us. But we have to hurry. They'll be here soon."

* * *

It was late when the others managed to get away from Grand Kingdom.

Well... Getting away was maybe the wrong way to put it. More like crashing into the forest that surrounded the canyons.

Once Kluke had started repairing the mechat from where it had been damaged from the enemies - which had been a good part of what caused the crash in the first place - Shu had started incessantly pacing around.

When Shu stopped a few feet away from her, he stared at her hard, his arms folded across his chest. "Kluke, are the repairs done yet?"

"No, and you asking me every five seconds isn't going to change anything."

"I can't help it," he grated. "I'm worried about them."

"Since when do you worry about Jiro?" This was mostly a coverup to hide how nettled she had been - "worried about them" also meant worried about Bouquet, which was something that bugged Kluke to no end.

"I never said I was worried about Jiro." The way he flushed at the half lie told otherwise, but he wasn't as worried about Jiro as he was Bouquet, so he ignored it (and hoped that Kluke would, too).

"And you're not the only one who's worried," Kluke reached into the box next to her, pulling out another tool. "I'm working as fast as I can, but that doesn't mean that it makes me feel any better."

"Why don't you work faster then?"

She looked over at him for a moment, looking for sarcasm but finding none, and turned back to her work. Commenting about something like that wasn't even worth it.

* * *

Jiro winced as he leaned against the cave wall - the fire he'd started was warm enough, but that didn't mean it was heating the rocks. And something that cold... Simply put, it didn't feel good against his injuries.

"Jiro?" Bouquet looked up from where she'd been poking the fire. "Are you okay?"

He huffed slightly, moving around a little, but didn't say anything.

She glared at him. "You _could_ be a little nicer, you know. I just wanted to know if you were alright. We're going to be stuck together for a while, so my suggestion to you is that you get used to me being around."

Jiro sighed, looking out of the entrance at the night sky. '_I hope the others get here soon._'

**Well... There's the first chapter. I'm not really sure how good it was, but... That aside, I'd like to reiterate that I am a huge Shu x Bouquet fan, but I did this so that there would be more Jiro x Bouquet in the fan fiction archive. Besides, the pairing's kind of nice. :P So... Please review if you can, and I'll try to update after 10 hits. See you soon! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is **_**up**_**! :D And it only took me six days to update something this time (I'm being sarcastic again, mind you). Anyway, before I start rambling about how late this is, let's do the review replies.**

**Growlmon1:** Thank you. Don't know how good the rest of it will be, but... Ah... *blushes* Thanks again. :) Sorry it took me so long. And thanks for the messages - it helped me get it done sooner. :)

**Ultimashadow:** Thanks. :D Ah... Somehow I had a feeling you'd remember. XD Sorry for the wait. Ah... I suppose that's true. :P Though Jiro probably has a better excuse than anyone to be a little on the mean side... Yes, they're often the opposite of each other. ;) Thank you; I'll try to do my best. :)

**WindGoddess Rune:** Thank you. :D Though it has been delayed, here's the next chapter. :)

**paulinaghost:** I'm glad you like it. :)

**Prince of Tennis' Shaman:** I had a feeling I'd get someone. XD Mine too. ;) I know; same goes for me. :D I've never really been able to decide what my favorite genre is, but I think those two would be close to the top. ;D Ah... I hope it turns out that good; I have a lot of doubt in this chapter. XP Don't worry; all caps are sometimes unavoidable (and are also fun to use). XD (_Game Jiro: I... Ugh, I give up._) I read your other reviews; thank you. :D

**WindGoddess Rune:** I know - I'm really sorry! My stories have been moving incredibly slow lately... Please try to hang on with some of the other ones, too; they're on their way.

**Review replies done. So... I... Actually, I don't like this chapter very much. XP Of course, if it's good or not is up to you, but... I don't like it that much. If it's no good, I think it's because I took too long to update this and ended up losing what momentum I had. I hope all of you will still be able to enjoy it, though. And this chapter is longer than I expected, so maybe that will make up for the long wait. I guess that's all I really need to mention... With that, here's chapter two!**

At first, when he woke up, he didn't remember what had happened.

"Oh no... I think my tights tore... And maybe my dress, too..."

That brought reality crashing back rather quickly. He groaned.

"Hey... Are you awake?"

Mentally kicking himself for groaning _out loud_, he moved so he could sit up. "Yes... I'm awake."

"I thought you'd never wake up. I've been waiting for you for hours!"

_I doubt she's waited a few minutes._ Jiro had started pushing himself up...

Then he felt it - a sharp stabbing in his side.

He hissed in pain. _Is it worse than I thought?_

"Jiro?" He noticed how her voice had hiked up considerably. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He most certainly _wasn't_ fine. But he wasn't about to tell Bouquet that. But... Why was she so worried? He shook his head; he'd worry about that later. "How are your injuries?"

"Um..." she fiddled with her skirt. "I twisted my ankle earlier."

"You _what_?"

She winced at his tone. "W-well... I wasn't sure if it was morning or night since the sun hadn't come up yet, but I woke up, and I needed some water... I was favoring one leg, because the other one was sore, and then I tripped on a rock... I couldn't get up because it hurt too much, so I just sat here."

Guilt was hitting him full force again, and he now realized that this _was_ the feeling from yesterday. When she'd said hours, he thought she was kidding... How long had she sat there, just waiting for him? "Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked her hoarsely.

Bouquet looked at him like he was out of his mind. "You're hurt. Of course I wasn't going to wake you up."

"Bouquet..." Jiro shook his head.

"Um, Jiro, I know you're not feeling well... But could you pass me some water? I'm really thirsty."

He sighed and gave up on making his point before he'd even started, one thought entering his mind - no matter what was going on, Bouquet would be Bouquet. "Sure."

* * *

Aside from the fact that Jiro and Bouquet were gone, when she'd woken up, Kluke knew that something was wrong. It had been an instinctual feeling, hitting her the moment she opened her eyes. And when it was time for breakfast, she knew why.

Shu was just... poking at his food. He wasn't _eating_ it. He hadn't eaten last night, but she'd thought he was just too exhausted to do so; each one of them had done that several times, so she hadn't worried about it. But missing two meals... Especially after the last meal he'd had was so small... This wasn't normal at all. She took a deep breath, and plunged onwards. "Shu, you need to eat."

He didn't make any response, just sat there and moved it around on his plate.

"I didn't know I was that bad of a cook." Zola had said it jokingly, but it failed to draw a laugh from him.

Kluke ground her teeth in annoyance, then poked him on the arm.

Shu looked up, startled so much that he actually made Kluke jerk back. When he realized it was her, he relaxed, but only slightly. "Oh... Sorry."

She looked at him incredulously. "Sorry? That's all you say?" she shook her head at him. "Shu, what's wrong with you? You're acting... strange. Hey," she snapped at him when he started looking away. "I want to know what's going on, and I won't take no for an answer." She hated to be so insistent, but she was worried about him, and she knew that he wasn't going to say anything otherwise.

Kluke was surprised, though, when he looked at her at something akin to relief. "Okay. But let's do it away from here... I only want to talk to you about it."

Marumaro moved his head in a way that suggested he was rolling his eyes - no one could ever tell, since his eyes always looked like they were closed - but Zola held him by the shoulder and shook her head. She turned too late to see Shu and Kluke leave, but... Something overhead caught her eye...

* * *

They'd only passed two or three trees when they stopped.

Kluke stood akimbo. "Are you going to tell me now?"

He looked up at her, and she could see something in his eyes... fear? "I... I had a nightmare. It was about Jiro and Bouquet. They were... falling... like before... but it was... worse." he shut his eyes. "A lot worse."

"Shu..." She wondered how bad it had really been, but knew better than to press him about it. If he wanted to tell her more, he would. "Don't think about it anymore. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have brought it up."

He shook his head. "No... Even if I can't talk about the whole thing, I wanted to tell someone about it..." he opened his eyes, a small smile on his face (was that a shy smile?). "And I can't think of anyone better to tell than you."

She blushed, and was about to answer, but that was when they heard Zola yelling for them.

The moment broken, Kluke's expression was serious as she looked at him again. "Let's go."

He nodded, and they both took off towards the sound of Zola's voice.

They found her and Marumaro near the forest's edge. "What's going on, Zola?" Kluke asked when she and Shu were next to them.

"Over there!" Zola pointed in the distance, at the canyons where they'd come from.

"What are those?" Shu squinted at the dark dots in the sky.

Zola's eyes narrowed as she lowered her arm. "Grand Kingdom scouting ships. They're headed for the canyons where Jiro and Bouquet fell. They're going to search the area."

* * *

When Bouquet had finished with the water, she blushed a little as she said, "Thank you, Jiro."

"Hm." He looked away from her, not least of all because he still felt bad. That, and the fact that his side was throbbing with pain...

She sighed. "Jiro... I know you don't like to talk a lot," she glared when he snorted, but she continued. "But, if we're going to be stuck together, and we have no idea when we'll meet up with the others, I'd appreciate it if you could at least try a little."

He turned his head slightly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, his expression one of consideration. He opened his mouth to reply...

...but was cut off as Bouquet's stomach growled loudly.

Bouquet flushed with embarrassment, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. "Sorry..."

Jiro sighed and shook his head, then stood. He crossed the expanse of the cave until he was where their bags were laying, then knelt down to get something out of it.

Curious, Bouquet tried to peer over his shoulder to see. "What are you doing, Jiro?"

"I never ate my roll from lunch yesterday." He stood again and turned to walk back towards her, thinking with no small amount of annoyance that he had been _saving_ it. "You seem like you need it more than I do."

She looked at the bread that he offered in his hand. "Jiro... I can't. You need to eat, too. We don't know when we're going to get any more food-"

"-which is why you need it." Without waiting for anymore objections, he pushed it into her hand, though he was careful not to crush it. "I can miss a few meals without it doing much to me."

She narrowed her eyes. "That isn't any excuse."

"Bouquet..." he sighed again. "Just eat it."

She was about to object, but her stomach growled again.

Jiro chuckled and sat down next to her. "Looks like your hunger is making up your mind for you."

She scowled at him, trying to think of a comeback, but ran out of ideas at that point, so instead settled for tearing off a piece of bread and eating it.

He glanced downwards, and the first thing he saw was her ankle. A sudden thought struck him... Before he even considered whether or not he should voice it, he said, "Bouquet... Have you ever thought that coming on this journey was a bad idea?"

She swallowed the bread hard, almost choking on it. "_What_? Why would you even ask something like that?"

Jiro checked his arm and winced; still sore. "No real reason. Besides, you said you wanted me to talk, right? So... You seem to me like a person who wouldn't risk their life on a daily basis."

"Well... I guess that's true..." she moved the bread back and forth, thoughtful. "Shu wants to come on this journey so he can stop bad things from happening to everyone... And I guess I want to do that to, too; it seems like as good a reason as any. Besides, Shu is my fiancé, and I'll go wherever he does, no matter what." she resumed tearing off pieces.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "So, I guess that means you really love him then."

"Of course! No one can compare with my Darling!" she closed her eyes, her smile bright.

Jiro felt this horrible, twisting feeling in his chest. _What... What is that? Is it from my injuries, or... is it something else?_ "Then if you had to risk your life for him, you would do that?"

She nodded. "I would. I wouldn't think twice about it."

The twisting got worse. "I still have a hard time believing that."

Bouquet shrugged, then matched his earlier words as she said, "You seem like a person who doesn't believe what other people say."

He smirked. "Well, that is true. In fact-" He froze as a sound reached his ears.

"Jiro?" she furrowed her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Quiet." he held out a hand to still her, straining to hear. That noise... It almost sounded like a ship engine.

Jiro got up and took a few steps towards the entrance, then listened out. He... He could hear shouting. And that was when he put it together in his mind.

He swore under his breath. In their conditions, there was no way either he or Bouquet could put up a decent fight. Especially not against an entire scouting squad - he'd found out several months back, when Mafe had been destroyed, that while the squads weren't big, they weren't small, either.

The only thing they could do was wait, hoping that they didn't close in on them.

"Jiro..." If only she hadn't hurt her ankle... Then she could get up and see what he was looking at. "Please, tell me what's going on."

He looked over his shoulder at her. She was only one or two feet away from him and the entrance... Maybe they could try to make a run for it. "Bouquet, if I helped you, do you think you could stand?"

"Maybe, but I'd like to know why I have to stand." she huffed, pouting slightly.

"There's no time to explain." He threw their bags over his shoulder, then knelt down next to her. "Come on, put your arm around my shoulder. Hurry."

She hesitated for a second, then did as he said. Jiro stood immediately, and Bouquet whimpered at the pressure on her sore leg. She thought about standing on the leg with the twisted ankle, but she honestly didn't know which one would hurt worse.

"We'll go slow; just try to hang on." He had to get them out of there. He ground his teeth and moved towards the entrance.

It was just one step at a time... He could make it... He could-

Jiro tripped on a rock, crying out mostly from surprise, catching himself on the cave wall before he and Bouquet spilled onto the floor.

But he knew right away that he had yelled too loudly.

The shout was faint yet clear: "There was a sound over there! You two, come with me!"

The wall that was around the opening of the cave was extremely small, but it would have to work. Responding almost automatically, Jiro held tight to Bouquet and dove towards the ground.

"Jiro!" she protested after they'd hit, mostly because it had made her legs hurt worse.

He ignored both her and his aggravated injuries, shifting himself so he was sitting. He pulled Bouquet towards him and tried to press both of them against the other wall.

Again, the only thing that could do was hope and wait, for the soldiers. If they didn't come inside, they would never see them, but if they did...

Bouquet ground her teeth. "_Jiro_- mmph!" she grabbed his hand when he placed it over her mouth.

"Don't talk so loudly!" he whispered harshly.

She yanked his hand away, and used a whisper that wasn't as low as his. "Since you basically threw me to the ground just now, I'd like to know what's going on-"

"Be quiet!" He pulled Bouquet against him; she could hear his heart hammering in his chest. "Please..."

She stilled, but blushed at their closeness. She heard him breathing fast, and that was when she realized how worried he was.

They heard footfalls outside coming closer, and Jiro held her so tightly that it almost hurt.

It was just like that time back then, in his village... At the time, he'd never been more scared of anything in his life... They'd been coming closer and closer to his hiding spot... He'd been all alone then. Now, there was someone with him - if they found him, he wasn't the only one they would hurt or try to kill. And that was a different fear all on its own, one that was merciless with its power over a person.

The crunching sound of ground underfoot stopped. Suddenly, the cave was illuminated - the soldiers were using a light to search it.

Bouquet closed her eyes, feeling how Jiro's chest was straining to quiet his rapid breathing. What would the soldiers do to them if they were caught? She didn't know the answer, but she didn't want to know, either.

A soldier took a step inside, and the two Shadow Users were sure that would be the end for them.

But another one spoke up, "Forget it. There's nothing in here. This canyon echoes a little, so it probably just sounded like it came from in here. Let's look somewhere else."

They waited about two minutes after the soldiers had left before they finally breathed out normally.

Bouquet looked up at him. "Jiro... I'm sorry I was so difficult. We could've been taken or even killed because of me... Thank you. You saved my life."

It was small, but he blushed. "Don't worry about it. Besides, we have other things to take care of right now."

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"We should move to the back of the cave in case anymore of the soldiers show up. The back isn't very far from the front, but it'll increase our chances of not being found."

Bouquet nodded, and without saying anything, put her arm over his shoulder.

Jiro looked at her, slightly stunned, since that had been what he was going to ask her to do. He chuckled and shook his head, then stood, letting her lean on him. They started moving, and he became serious again. "I want you to rest up and be ready for tonight."

"What's happening then?"

His eyes narrowed slightly, his jaw set determinedly. "It's going to be dark. Too dark for the soldiers to see clearly. And that means we're making a run for it."

**Chapter 2 done! And I'm glad this chapter is over. XP I know, I know... I shouldn't be looking at it so negatively... But I can't help it. So... If you could please let me know what you think in a review, I would appreciate it. :) I'm going to try and update this after 10 hits, but I have several stories that are in need of an update, and that's not even including stories I haven't uploaded yet. Speaking of which... Since I've lost most of my inspiration for this, **_**Fateful Fall**_** will probably come to a close pretty soon. I've tried to write without inspiration before... Trust me, it's not pretty. Not pretty at all. But the good news is that because of this, I'll upload a new story as soon as this is finished. Anyone want to guess what it is? ;) ... Nah, I'm not that cruel; I'll tell you. XD The next story that will be uploaded, which should be as soon as **_**Fateful Fall**_** is over, will be **_**Futari Kiri**_**. I'm looking forward to writing that one, so maybe it'll help me to write this one faster. So, that's all I really need to mention. See you soon! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow… After six months, a week, and five days since the upload of chapter two, chapter three is finally done. I'm very surprised I got this up; you wouldn't believe how difficult it was to write. It kind of took me off guard that this story would be the one to lead the poll, mostly because I had been hard at work with two of the other stories that had been tied before the most recent vote… Regardless, I'm glad that I managed to do it. :) But, before I start rambling again, I'll do the review replies. ;)**

**Prince of Tennis' Shaman:** XD (_Look at the bright side; you'll have to ask Kluke for it. ;D_) _(Game Jiro: *blushes* *scowls*_) Well, it certainly seems late now, but… If you say so. :) Thanks, An… ;.; (Sorry; haven't been having such an easy time lately.) Yeah… Oh? Oh… *blushes* Thank you. :D *nods* :) Ah! A-An, please be careful!… (_Game Jiro: *sigh* And now Yamadori is going to panic again…_) *lets out breath of relief* Thank goodness… *blushes again* Th-thank you… And thank you (again). :) Oh, no, not again… But, it seems like you're alright, so… Um, about _Futari Kiri_… I'm, uh, having some, um, difficulty with it… But I should be able to get past it. Though I don't know when it'll be uploaded, since I've been using the poll to figure out what to update next. Ah… Well, I'll try to get it uploaded soon, then. :)

**WindGoddess Rune:** I hope so, too. Will they, though?...

**Ultimashadow:** Thank you! :D XD Thanks! XD Actually, he'd been starting to care even in chapter one… But, yes, he is caring more. Thanks; I really worked hard to fit that in there, so I'm glad you liked it! :) I hope it will be; I've been having quite a few problems with it… It will definitely be uploaded eventually; it's just a matter of _when_. But, I think the problems I'm having with it are ones that I can get past, so maybe it'll be up sooner than I think. ;) It's been a really long time – I'm sorry! – but the next chapter is finally here. :D And, I hope I do, too; even though I finished this chapter, I'm still not able to tell if I have it back yet or not. *sweatdrops*

**Kuroi Bara-676:** Thank you! :D Glad to hear it. :) I'm sorry it's taken so long, but the next chapter is finally here. Well… That _should_ be revealed this chapter; read on to see. ;)

**Review replies done! There's not actually much else for me to say, I don't think… Well, there is the fact that I'm fighting off the remnants of a very nasty flu. I don't think it's THE flu, but I honestly don't know. I **_**do**_** know that I'll be glad to be rid of it (which will hopefully be soon)! Um, let's see, anything else… Oh! I, um… I'm sorry if this chapter didn't turn out as good. If it didn't, I think it was probably because I'm still not feeling well. It's also shorter than some of my most recent writing… But that basically means it's more normal-sized. XD So, I believe that's everything I have to mention, so without further ado, read on!**

"But, in a few minutes, the sun will be completely set, maro," Marumaro said as soon as Zola had told everyone what the plan was. "How will we search for them in the dark, maro?"

"We'll find a way." Shu had to keep himself from snapping when he said this. Jiro and Bouquet were their companions, their friends; how could Marumaro be so pessimistic? Of course they'd find a way!

Zola nodded to Shu in agreement. "It's too risky to _not_ search for them; the Grand Kingdom scouting squad could find them, or worse, they might have found them already. We can't afford to wait any longer than we have to."

Kluke forced herself to not move faster with the repairs when Zola said "might have found them already". It wouldn't do to rush and mess up the mechat further.

But the possibility continued to nag at her, place doubt in her heart, no matter how much she tried to rid herself of it.

* * *

He opened his eyes groggily, lying on his side. Small bits of light showed themselves on the slick surface of cave rock, the only brightness in the dark.

The dark... But... That meant...

Bad. Very bad.

He threw his arm out, searching frantically. "Bouquet? Bouquet!"

Purple eyes blinked at him owlishly. "Wha...?"

Jiro held back a groan. "Bouquet, get up! I think we overslept!"

* * *

Shu swore after he'd lowered the binoculars; even without them, he could see all of the searchlights from where Kluke held the mechat's position. "They're all over the place. We'll never be able to sneak over there."

"Maybe we could use our Shadows, maro." Marumaro suggested.

Zola shook her head. "It's more risky. It's true, we might be able to sneak around more easily, but we'd have more problems if we were seen. Right now, they're only searching for two occupants of a mechat that had been under high suspicion. But, if they were to find out that all of those occupants were also Shadow Users..." She trailed off; further explanation wasn't needed.

"What are we going to do, then?" Kluke inclined her head slightly. "We don't have any good options to choose from."

Zola sighed. "They have us cornered, even if they don't know it." She closed her eyes, silently thinking for several moments about what the best course of action would be. Opening them again, she looked forward determinedly. "Kluke, take us directly towards the center of the canyon."

Kluke's eyes widened. "But, then the scouting squad-"

"Will see us." Zola finished for her. "I know they will. We have no other choice, though. We can't leave Jiro and Bouquet there. If nothing else, we'll be able to divert the attention of the scouting squad away from the two of them." She had to hold back another sigh. "It isn't that good of a good choice, but currently, it's the only one we really have."

Marumaro gripped the machine gun even tighter than he had before. "Oh man, this is going to end badly, maro!"

"Marumaro, shut _up_." Shu said through clenched teeth.

Kluke's hands tightened on the mechat controls. "Alright; hang on, guys!" She pushed forward, wondering absentmindedly how all of this would end.

* * *

He was breathing hard from the effort; still hurt and exhausted, carrying Bouquet on his back wasn't easy at all, and the fact that both of their bags were slung over her back (this being significant because it meant additional weight) didn't help anything. And the air was cold, so _cold_, so much that he could see his breath coming out in white puffs, so much that it felt like ice in his lungs.

And his side was still killing him.

"Jiro..." Bouquet's whisper, next to his ear, feeling warmer than anything else around him. "Maybe you should leave me."

"No." His voice stayed firm and unwavering, even if his feet strayed from where he wanted them to go. "No one gets left behind."

Bouquet winced as he stumbled once again (both had lost count of how many times it had been), muttering curses under his breath. True, the sudden movement had aggravated her injured legs... But her grimace had mostly been from guilt.

She knew that if Jiro didn't have to carry her, he wouldn't be having as much trouble as he was at the moment; he'd be moving so much faster, and the risk of them being caught wouldn't be nearly as high. _Weighing everyone down, just like I always do... I'm always nothing but a burden._ She closed her eyes against the sting of tears.

"Hey, you alright?" Though Jiro had been, for rather obvious reasons, ignoring how Bouquet was pressed against his back, he couldn't help but notice the way her chest had hitched just then.

Her cheeks felt warmer; she told herself, though it felt untruthful, that it was because of the cold. "Yeah... I-I'm fine."

_I wish I could say the same._ "Just hang on a little bit more. I'm not sure, but... I don't think it'll be much longer-"

A voice, slightly distant, yet still too close. "Did you hear something?"

Jiro dove for a crevice in the wall, not even daring to peek out. He looked for Bouquet over his shoulder; finding her eyes, his whisper could barely be heard, "Not a sound."

She nodded wordlessly, holding on tight. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the soldiers moving past.

"Nah, I didn't hear a thing," the other soldier said to the one who'd spoken before. "I'm telling you, we've been doing this too long. Makes you hear things when it's only the wind. After hours without a trace of anything, it's ridiculous that we're even still out here..." His voice, having been fading gradually, had finally gotten too far away to hear.

Jiro and Bouquet let out the breaths they'd been holding, before leaning forward to look both ways...

From above, the sound echoed throughout the canyon, of mechat ammunition. The two Shadow Users looked up just in time to see a mechat flying low and out of their line of sight, three other ships hot on its trail.

When they'd passed, Bouquet whispered, "Do you think... that could've been the others?"

"Maybe." Jiro answered, stepping out of the crevice. "But, since it's being chased towards one of the ways out, I'd say it's worth following."

* * *

Marumaro paused from firing the machine gun, looking over his shoulder at Shu, who he spoke to in acid tones, "_This_ is the part where I tell you 'I told you so', maro!"

"And this is the part where I come over there and kick you!" Shu snapped at him.

"And this is the part," Kluke interrupted, grinding out the words from between her teeth, "where I turn the ship upside down until you two fall out unless _both_ of you _shut up_!" Under normal circumstances, she might've thought that repeating the 'part' would've been too much, but trying to dodge the enemy's attacks had frayed her patience too much for her to even care anymore.

Zola barely dodged some ammo that came close to her head; as it was, it had cut off the ends of a few strands of hair. She had been trying to convince herself for most of the time that she'd made the right choice by instructing Kluke to go this way, but had succeeded only halfway. _For the others' sakes, I just hope this won't be a choice I come to regret._

* * *

Jiro still felt worn out, but things didn't seem so bad now - the thought that the mechat they'd seen could be the others filled him with hope. And with that, it wasn't nearly as hard to keep going.

"Hey, Jiro," Bouquet started quietly, sounding more cheerful than she had for most of this incident. "My leg, the sore one, it's feeling better." As she said this, he looked down, now noticing how she moved her foot around experimentally. "I think I'll be able to walk on it soon."

"Don't overdue it." was the simple reply he gave, but Jiro couldn't stop the light grin tugging at his lips. Everything finally seemed to be looking up.

"Jiro..." Bouquet swallowed.

After several seconds had passed without her saying anything else, he prompted, "Yeah?"

"I just, um..." She fidgeted slightly, or at least as much as she could in her current position. Then, taking a deep breath... "Thank you. For putting up with me and everything... Honestly, I don't think there are a lot of people who would have put up with me as much as you have. So... Thank you. It means a lot to me."

He shifted his grip on her legs, struck with a sudden, strange feeling he couldn't identify. "You're welcome."

It caught him unaware.

"Look! Over there!" The voice echoed from behind him, and it sent an icy chill up his spin.

"_Jiro_!" Bouquet whisper-yelled, frantic and urgent.

He dashed forward, almost blindly in his panic, holding tight to Bouquet, hearing the soldiers' hasty approach. _Run, run, run..._ The word repeated in his mind continuously as his feet pounded on the canyon's rocky ground.

He yelped as he tripped on a stray rock, grateful that he only bumped into the rocks and hadn't spilled onto the floor. He kicked out with his foot, pushing himself off of the wall, using it to his advantage to gain extra speed.

"Get back here, you brats!" He recognized the voice - it was the same soldier duo that they had narrowly escaped from, and that detail fueled his urgency. The soldier had already sounded agitated earlier, and Jiro highly doubted the Grand Kingdom henchman would give him and Bouquet any mercy.

He doubled his efforts. _No. I can't let that happen._

His foot made contact with another stray rock, but this one _did_ send him sprawling to the ground, where he hit the stone and blacked out for several seconds.

Groggily, he could hear the footsteps coming close, could feel something warm and wet on his forehead, and then the weight on his back...

The _absent_ weight.

He forced his head up. "Bouquet!" He found her almost instantly, as she'd landed just a short distance from where he had; nearly simultaneous with his shouting of her name, Bouquet lifted her head, unwittingly allowing him to see the undisguised fear in her eyes.

_I don't think there are a lot of people who would have put up with me as much as you have..._

Without thinking twice about it, he'd already made his decision.

Just when the closet soldier had gotten near enough, Jiro thrust out his foot, tripping him and sending him into a predicament quite similar to his own.

For the other, moving quickly, ever so quickly, he pushed himself to his feet and struck out with his dagger, catching his current opponent across the front of his armor, and also startling him. His second strike was blocked by a Grand Kingdom rifle; he was too weak and tired to overpower the man, but he could keep him at a stalemate. For now.

Looking over his shoulder, he searched with his eyes for her. "Bouquet, get out of here! Run!"

"No!" She yelled back at him, barely holding herself up. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"Don't be stupid!" He slid back slightly, starting to have a hard time holding the soldier back, grinding his teeth from the effort. "Get away, while you still can!"

She shook her head, attempting to stand, but not really succeeding. "I won't!" She gave a small, sad smile. "No one gets left behind, right?"

It finally got to be too much; he couldn't hold him back anymore, and ended up flat on his back. He looked up, seeing that he was about to be struck, and rolled out of the way just in time. He knelt on the ground, one hand poised in front of him, the other on the handle of his dagger, breathing hard. He tried to get his exhausted mind to work, but it steadfastly refused; he felt like he might collapse at any second. Did he dare bring out Minotauros...?

There was no time to contemplate it further, and by the time he realized he should have been better using the energy for other planning, it was too late.

He heard Bouquet scream his name, just as the soldier he'd been fighting shouted at the other, "You can't! We have to leave them alive!"

Before he turned his head, the thought entered his head. _You stupid idiot. You never bothered to check behind you._

And then the end of the rifle connected with his forehead, worsening the wound he already had and making him reel. Again too late, he didn't count for what was behind him.

His foot touched thin air right before he realized he was falling over the edge.

But, something, someone, had wrapped their arms around his waist, and was once again falling with him.

He closed his eyes painfully against the image of Bouquet's, determination in violet depths, hearing the words that both had said: _No one gets left behind..._

**And, at long last, chapter three is done! :D … Ugh, I probably messed it up terribly. But, hopefully it wasn't completely awful. I'm glad that it's over with, at least. Speaking of over… There probably won't be too many more chapters. If I had to estimate – note that my estimations are often wrong – I'd say one or two chapters. I have to write and see how things play out (hopefully getting struck with an idea along the way so there can be more to this story). Anyway… If you can, please review! I'll try to update after 10 hits, but what decides the next update is mostly the poll on my profile. And since I've brought that up… The results will be cleared after this chapter is uploaded, so remember to **_**vote again**_** (or, if you're able, vote for the first time if you haven't already)! That's all I have to say for now, so… See you soon! :D**


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